The answer is very simple, Mr. Cohn. They tried to seize the evidence so they could destroy it -- it's a very common tactic when police find themselves inadvertently filmed doing something very stupid.

If the Kern County Sheriff's Department wants to create a culture of transparency in the community, why has video footage of the events before David Sal Silva's death not been revealed yet?​

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This is the question Attorney David Cohn, representing the Silva family, is concerned about. And he wants an answer.​

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"Those videos that were taken are the most important piece to this case and another main concern is that those videos aren't altered or destroyed by the Sheriff's Department," Cohn, of the firm Chain | Cohn | Stiles said at a news conference at his downtown Bakersfield office Friday.​

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People who say they witnessed the incident as well as Silva's family members described a scene in which deputies essentially were beating a helpless man to death.​